Meta, the parent company of both Facebook and Instagram, is drawing up plans to integrate Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on the social media giants’ platforms. According to a Financial Times report, several people familiar with the plans have disclosed that the integration will allow for displaying one’s NFT as a profile picture, and will also introduce a native NFT market place on the two platforms for buying and selling NFTs.
While Meta has not commented, the report notes the effort is still at an early stage. The move is also coming after Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, disclosed last year that NFTs would eventually be part of the newly incorporated company’s push for building the metaverse.
NFT integration coming to Facebook and Instagram soon.
A Financial Times scoop has revealed that Meta has set activities in motion to allow Facebook and Instagram users to display, create, buy, and sell NFTs – digital assets have their ownership verified by blockchain records.
Citing two anonymous persons close to the development within Meta, the report states that teams have been set up at Facebook and Instagram to work on the project. Their sources note that Instagram was now “internally testing its NFT showcasing feature,” adding that Novi, the digital currency wallet Facebook launched experimentally last October, will play a key role in the NFT integration.
While Meta has not commented, the report notes the effort is still at an early stage. The reveal seems to confirm statements made by the head of Instagram, Adam Moseri, last December that the platform was “actively exploring NFTs.”
The move is also coming after Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, disclosed last year that NFTs would eventually be part of the newly incorporated company’s push for building the metaverse. Meta intends to invest up to $10 billion annually in this new endeavor. The fact that the metaverse is basically a virtual world with animated avatars puts NFTs in the center of Meta’s plans beyond just Facebook and Instagram.
NFT, a big part of Web 3, has been gaining massive traction
Outside of Meta’s plans, NFTs have been getting a lot of buzz within and outside the crypto ecosystem. Facebook and Instagram competitors Twitter and Reddit have been working on their own integration of NFTs. Similarly, Discord for a while last year entertained the idea of integrating crypto and NFTs on its platform. Less mainstream social media platforms like the Japan-based LINE also have plans to integrate NFTs.
Beyond social media platforms, NFTs have gained attention from almost all major industries including sports, entertainment, gaming, and the fast-food industry. It is clear that Meta is looking to capitalize on this now more than $40 billion asset class.
